WSOP: David Daneshgar WIns Event No. 52

David Daneshgar entered the final table of event 52 ($1,500 no-limit hold’em) with all of the tools needed to win: superb poker instincts, final-table experience, and 50 big blinds to work with. But one hour into the tournament, everything changed. Daneshgar ran his pocket kings into the pocket aces of Dan Heimiller and suddenly found himself eighth out of eight players. Showing great mental toughness, the 27-year-old Californian clawed back into contention. Solid aggressive play and a series of excellent reads allowed Daneshgar to carve through his adversaries all the way to heads-up play. When his pocket tens held up against Scott Sitron’s ace-eight, Daneshgar claimed his first World Series of Poker bracelet and $625,443.

Seat assignments and chip counts when play began:

Seat 1: Dan Heimiller (Plymouth, Michigan) – 544,000
Seat 2: Matt Matros (Brooklyn, New York) – 1,472,000
Seat 3: Farzad Rouhani (Germantown, Maryland) – 212,000
Seat 4: Andrey Zaichenko (Moscow, Russia) – 521,000
Seat 5: Scott Sitron (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) – 504,000
Seat 6: Voitto Rintala (Helsinki, Finland) – 553,000
Seat 7: Jeff Courtney (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) – 1,443,000
Seat 8: David Daneshgar (Westlake Village, California) – 1,178,000
Seat 9: Corwin Cole (San Diego, California) – 1,668,000

Highlights from the final table:

Scott Sitron Doubles Up; Voitto Rintala Crippled

Scott Sitron raised from early position to 60,000 with blinds at 12,000/24,000 and after a few moments of deliberation, Voitto Rintala moved all-in for 544,000, sliding his stack of chips into the middle. Action folded back around to Sintron who made the call and the two showed their cards:

Rintala: 8 8
Sitron: Q Q

Rintala needed an 8 but it was not to be. The board came out J 4 2 J A and Rintala was crippled, his stack reduced to a mere 46,000. After the double-up, Sitron had 1 million in chips

Voitto Rintala Eliminated in Ninth Place

($57,712)

Moments after the above hand, Rintala moved all-in for his final 46,000. He was called by Jeff Courtney behind him and then again by Farzad Rouhani in the big blind. The flop came down 9 5 5 and both players checked. The turn was the Q and Rouhani bet 40,000, leaving himself only 114,000 behind. Courtney, without too much thought, made the call. The river card was the very interesting 5. Rouhani shrugged and declared all-in, placing his final column of chips down onto the table. Courtney quietly called and Rouhani tabled Q 5 for quad fives. The Finn, showing pocket sixes, saw his day come to a rather alacritous finish. Rintala was eliminated in ninth place, taking home $57,712.

Dan Heimiller Doubles Through David Daneshgar

In an action-packed hand, Dan Heimiller would go from the short stack to fourth in chips. Farzad Rouhani raised to 80,000 from under-the-gun. Andrey Zaichenko called and action folded to David Daneshgar who made it 306,000. Dan Heimiller then moved all-in from the small blind. Rouhani reluctantly folded, as did Zaichenko, and Daneshgar made the call. The two showed their hands:

Heimiller: A A
Daneshgar: K K

Heimiller’s aces would hold up on a board of 9 6 2 4 6 and his double-up would see him crack the 1 million chip mark, 1,042,000 to be exact. Daneshgar, with 434,000, was left cursing his luck.

Rouhani claimed to have folded pocket jacks on the hand, and Zaichenko pocket eights

Jeff Courtney Eliminated in Eighth Place ($84,546)

Today was just not Jeff Courtney’s day. On three separate occasions the young man from Lancaster, Pennsylvania got his chips in with a solid hand against Farzad Rouhani, and on three occasions he lost a big pot.

The final blow took place minutes after returning from break. Rouhani raised to 105,000 and Courtney moved all-in for 475,000 from the button. After a bit of thinking, Rouhani said “Let’s go,” and made the call, showing A Q, a hand that he had folded earlier in a not-too-dissimilar situation. He was racing against Courtney’s J J. The flop was another dagger for Courtney: Q 9 4, and when the turn (4) and river (9) failed to improve his hand, he would be eliminated. For his three days of work, Jeff Courtney took home $84,546.

Andrey Zaichenko Eliminated in Seventh Place ($112,116)

The table folded around to Andrey Zaichenko who open-shoved for 770,000 on the button. Scott Sitron quickly called from the small blind and Daneshgar folded. Sitron had the goods – K K – but that was not the case for Zaichenko, who showed his 9 6. Zaichenko would fall even further behind on the K Q 2 flop. The 9 turn and A river provided no miracles for the Russian and his day was done. Zaichenko’s seventh-place finish was good for $112,116.

Matt Matros Eliminated in Sixth Place ($148,875)

Corwin Cole, first to act, raised to 125,000 and Matt Matros wasted no time in moving all-in for his 690,000 chips. Cole audibly sighed before making the call, and the two showed their cards:

Matros: A Q
Cole: A 9

The flop came down K 9 4 and Matros shook his head in disbelief. The 10 on the turn gave Cole the flush and spelled the end of the day for Matros. For his sixth-place finish Matros took home $148,875.

Corwin Cole Eliminated In Fifth Place ($189,311)

Corwin Cole moved all-in from the cutoff for 870,000 and action folded around to Scott Sitron in the small blind. Sitron made the call and the two showed their cards:

Cole: 9 8
Sitron: A 8

SItron had Cole dominated. The A 6 3 flop made things even bleaker for Cole. The K on the turn was the clincher, and Sitron would win the hand, moving up to 2,785,000. For finishing in fifth place, Cole left with $189,311.

Farzad Rouhani Eliminated in Fourth Place ($231,584)

Farzad Rouhani opened the action from the button by moving all-in for 515,000. Scott Sitron again woke up with a hand in the blinds and called with 10 10. Rouhani disgustedly turned up his A 9 and awaited the flop. The flop would bring good news only to Sitron, as he hit a set on the 10 4 2 flop. The 4 on the turn filled Sitron up and made him the first player in the tournament to surpass 3 million chips. Farzad Rouhani took away $231,584 from his second final table of this year’s World Series.

Dan Heimiller Eliminated in Third Place ($275,695)

Scott Sitron raised to 225,000 on the button. Daneshgar folded and Dan Heimiller moved all-in for 1,600,000. Sitron called and the two showed their hands:

Heimiller: A 3
Sitron: A 10

The flop came J 10 4 and Heimiller was staring elimination in the face. The turn was the J, meaning that an ace on the river would result in a split pot. The river was the 5 though, and Heimiller was eliminated. Heimiller’s prize for third place was a not-too-shabby $275,695.

Heads Up

Going into heads-up play, Scott Sitron had a 4,875,000 to 3,265,000 lead on David Daneshgar.

Daneshgar Wins Massive Pot

Scott Sitron raised to 320,000 and, for the first time in the heads-up battle, Daneshgar three-bet him. Sitron simply called the extra 575,000 and the two saw the flop. On the A 6 2 flop Daneshgar led out for 610,000 and Sitron called. At this point nearly half of the chips in play were in the middle of the table. The turn was the 6 and Daneshgar checked. Sitron slid out a bet of 610,000. Daneshgar quickly declared all-in and, just as quickly, Sitron tossed his cards to the dealer. Daneshgar collected a gigantic pot and grabbed the chip lead, 5,675,000 to 2,420,000.

Scott Sitron Eliminated in Second Place ($385,974); David Daneshgar Wins ($625,443)!

Scott Sitron limped on the button and David Daneshgar raised an additional 400,000 from the big blind. Sitron wasted no time in moving all-in and he was practically beaten into the pot by Daneshgar. They showed their hands:

Sitron: A 8
Daneshgar: 10 10

The board ran out 6 6 4 9 J and the pocket tens of Daneshgar held up!

Scott Sitron will receive $385,974 for his runner-up finish.

For Daneshgar, the celebration has just begun. His reward for finishing first in this event: $625,443 and a World Series of Poker bracelet.

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